Sometimes we take exception. Sometimes we make one.

THOUGHTS ON THE 4TH COMMANDMENT (SHORTER CATECHISM Q.57)

It may surprise you to learn that the Westminster Shorter Catechism contains a rather lengthy section (Q.41-81) dealing with the ten commandments. That is more than 40 total questions!. In other words, well over 1/3 of the Shorter Catechism is spent focusing on this summary of the moral law of God.

That alone should be instructive to us. How much time do we as believers spend considering God’s law or meditating upon it? Psalm 1 calls us to delight in “the law of the LORD, and so to meditate upon it “day and night” (Psalm 1:2). Frankly, how many of us meditate upon the law of God at all, much less day and night?

It may further surprise you to know that the Shorter Catechism spends no less than 6 of those questions (Q.57-62) dealing with the 4th commandment in particular. That being the case, the Westminster divines clearly saw great…